Communications

The NCC communicated its position on farm policy and escalated its consumer awareness of cotton and the U.S. cotton industry's contributions to the nation.

Major activities carried out during 2002.
Ccapommunication efforts helped ensure swift passage of new farm law. Industry leaders, for example, placed columns in urban newspapers in Georgia and other states pointing up the merits of the House bill as its proposal was compatible to cotton’s needs.

Columns and fact sheets also were distributed to NCC leaders throughout the Cotton Belt for help in responding to the onslaught of unfavorable articles and broadcasts surrounding the farm law debate and passage. This effort was reinforced when the NCC joined with communications specialists from the Commodity Roundtable agricultural organizations. Op-ed pieces and columns were distributed by leadership to many national and local news media outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

A NCC-commissioned survey found little interest or unfavorable public reaction to a June 26 Wall Street Journal article entitled "U.S. Subsidies Create Cotton Glut That Hurts Foreign Cotton Farms." The story featured quotes from Chairman Hood, who was visited by the WSJ writer.

NCC escalated its Cotton Counts consumer awareness campaign aimed at improving the understanding of and attitudes toward cotton and the U.S. cotton industry. A new web site, www.cottoncounts.net contains information to guide the National Cotton Women’s Committee in taking cotton’s message into the classroom and beyond.

National Cotton Women's Committee officers visited Cargill Cotton's cotton sampling room in Memphis as part of their ongoing orientation/education training to help them carry out the Cotton Counts consumer awareness campaign.

National Cotton Women’s Committee officers visited Cargill Cotton Company’s cotton sampling room in Memphis as part of their ongoing orientation/education training to help them carry out the Cotton Counts consumer awareness campaign.

The NCC was active in the Council for Biotechnology Information and the Tomorrow’s Bounty – Farmers for the Benefits of Biotechnology campaign.

As visitor traffic to the NCC’s web site increased tremendously, upgrades were made to ensure www.cotton.org remained the premier central online information source about the U.S. cotton industry and NCC programs and activities. Significantly more information, including the 2002 farm bill proposals and analyses, were made available quickly on the site. The expediency and volume of information will hasten as even more NCC staff are given the responsibility for site posting. A new, improved login process, including personal IDs and passwords, was added to improve NCC members secure access to that area.